Another, and this the last observation, from my trip to Newport. They have a wonderful covered market hall with almost nothing in it. Down the road they appear to be building the biggest most nondescript shopping place with this gem just a few yards away. For crying out loud what a waste. Have the planners and architects not got the wit to refurbish this place in their plans. It’s not dead but it’s dying on it’s feet and will probably be killed off for good when “Blandland” opens down the road. They’ve done similar things in Gloucester where the indoor market is much better than this poor creature but still needs some real tlc. They’ve also built a shopping ‘experience’ in Gloucester too, with marble floors imported from China ignoring local craftsmen and building methods. It’s an experience you’ll be happy to miss.

There’s something wrong with the state of planning and building, and with local authorities for allowing this to happen.

Perhaps this local Newport sculpture is of the planners, not a party I’d want to go to.

So there I was in Newport, South Wales. I won’t elaborate the reasons but I had to go there. I had no choice. I ended up having 4 hours to kill in the place and it had it’s highs and lows. Here’s one of the highs. I’m keen to photograph people but it’s a delicate skill perhaps. With nothing to lose today and with a person who must liked being looked at I asked this chap if I could take a picture of him. I’m not desperately keen on tattoos but this one was pretty good and it’s really the first time I’ve seen someone with tattoos all over their face. He seemed like a really pleasant chap too, smiley and quite happy for me to tell him to ‘look over there please’. In fact I found the people in Newport to be friendly all round in the short time I was there.

Then it was off to the Art Gallery and what a treat that was too.They have a collection of teapots, and this one in particular caught my eye. This is ‘old Bill’ a cartoon character invented by a First World War artist called Bruce Bairnsfather. I’ve not seen it before in the form of a pot, but it really is a good one. Bairnsfather gained fame and plaudits for his work depicting the typical good humoured ‘tommy’ in that dreadful conflict. Looking at the two images when I got back from Newport I was struck by a small similarity, though I expect that neither would agree.

When the BBC was just a small boy and in black and white they had little films when there was an ‘Intermission’, which is a break in proceedings. The potter’s wheel was a favourite.

Here’s my little ‘Intermission’

It was such a spectacularly lovely day today one had to get out and soak it in. This little fountain in the nearby park always catches the sun in the late day, it’s one of those things that I can watch for hours.

There’s a shop not far away from where I live that sells almost everything and has been there for years. The stuff in the window has been there for years and is yellowed with age. I’ve yet to venture in and look at the goldmine within. The owner is a bit of a free spirit, caring nothing much for the look of the place, or perhaps he does and can’t afford a ‘makeover’, and probably does not know what such a thing is. He’s apt to put his own news headlines on the window and this one took my eye.

I’m not sure exactly what it means but assume that the local pensioners ( again I’m assuming plural ) have had no phone service for 3 weeks, or perhaps an oap ( to us over here in the UK, that’s short for old age pensioner: not politically correct these days, but our headline writer is not ) has phoned to say someone has been dead for three weeks. I’m sure it needs punctuation somewhere, but I’m not sure where. I should have gone in and asked him, but have this vision of someone who might bark at me and kick me out for being cheeky.

The next image is from his massive display of toys, and where else can you buy a whoopee cushion on the high street these days. I suspect that it’s been in the window since about 1959. Whopee.